Saturday, November 24, 2007

Baby Talk

Just over six months ago, when my Exceptional Niece Abigail®was born, the whole family spent hours bent over her in wondering attitudes, rapt. We analyzed every squint and gurgle, trying to puzzle out what she might be thinking.

Well, sit down on a sturdy chair and move your coffee mug away from the keyboard because my dears, I've cracked the code.

Dolores* and I were sitting in front of the television a couple of morning ago giving each other pedicures and watching "Today" when Meredith Viera introduced a segment on babies and sign language. Apparently it's been discovered that long before they can say, "Uncle Franklin, don't you agree that Barney the Dinosaur is utterly jejune?" in so many words, they can be positively chatty by means of wiggling and waving.

At least I think that was the idea. I only caught the first part of the report because just as Meredith and some doctor with three names were getting to the heart of the matter, Dolores choked on the fruit in her cosmo and nearly severed my Little Piggy Who Had None with the nail file. By the time we stemmed the bleeding and cleaned up the carpet, "Today" had moved on to Al Roker interviewing Angelina Jolie's former housekeeper's sister-in-law's best friend's college roommate about her views on Afghanistan.

However, I was still fascinated by the thought that Abigail might have been signing to us all this time. I grabbed the first three volumes of her baby book and began poring over the snapshots for any hint of intelligibility. And lo, armed with my newly acquired scientific knowledge, it took mere minutes to bridge the communication gap that once yawned betwixt uncle and niece.

You're just that CLEVER! It's true, you have cracked it, I'm sure. Hmmm...I wonder if your theory could apply to cats?!?!?! (And I'm with aiden; that is the sweetest little punkin I ever saw...since my own sweetums started smoking cigarettes and playing billiards.)

you are so incredibly funny. babies what a nice thing. and the thing is they get funnier.my great niece's norgi pullover that i knit for her disappeared . it turned out she took it to daycare to sleep with. soooo cute. she quite liked the wool i bought yesterday at the tender age of one. i will have to get her some needles for christmas. passing on the torch.

You are adorable and clever, and you will not go wrong with sign language for the baby. I highly recommend http://www.signingtime.com/product_info.php?cPath=41&products_id=63 after purchasing it for my grandson. In the 6 months since he got it for his first birthday, he (and we) know about 50 signs; the communication is up and the frustration for everyone is down.

Who wouldn't want an Uncle Franklin...although I do have two bones to pick (so to speak) with you about the Exceptional Niece Abigail®'s vocabulary and taste.

First of all, I find it hard to believe that lovely child would resort to profanity unless absolutely necessary, and second, I'm sure part of what she's saying about the rock is that at least it provided some raison d'etre by having a Latin inscription.

If the only people that the Hardhearted Alien Angels of Death (or whomever) met on a visit to Planet Earth were you, Exceptional Niece Abigail® and her parents, I know they would spare the rest of us for being dipsticks and allow the planet to go on.

Abigail is brilliant! And how perceptive of you to have cracked the code.

Like Sheila from Ohio, in all seriousness, teaching babies to sign is really cool, and it actually helps them communicate more at an earlier age, especially for those who are not as gifted as you, Uncle Franklin. My son has a speech impairment that is neurologically based, (cognitively, he's fine, mind you), and once we started using sign language with him, life calmed down a lot more because we could understand what his needs were better or what he liked. He talks quite well now, thanks to lots of speech therapy, but the sign language was a great bridge for us until he could learn to "use his words" out loud. In still remembering some of it, I can still use a few signs with a friend of mine who is slightly hearing impaired! :-P

Um. Excuse me, Franklin? What is Abigail's name on Ravelry? I'd like to "friend" her!lolWhat a doll she is! You should rightfully be VERY proud! (especially of her excellent taste in sock yarn!) *wink*(((hugs)))

Actually, in the picture with the rock, she's saying "Get me out of this crappy Bjorn; it's bad for my hips and spine. I want a KozyKarrier or an Ergo!" LOL.You might be interested in learning about Dunstan Baby Language, a woman with perfect pitch who has been able to identify, cross-cultures, six key sounds all babies make up to about 12 weeks (they keep making the sounds, based on reflex movements, but then they start adding more). It's fascinating.

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